The Second Time ~Yukimura and Rika's Situation~
The Second Time ~Yukimura and Rika's Situation~ is chapter 141 of the Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai light novel series. It is chapter twenty of volume eleven. Summary The election season began a short while after the cultural festival. Yukimura tells Kodaka that she'd like to run for student council president due to the fulfillment she's experienced at the school. This surprises Kodaka, though he still gives Yukimura his words of encouragement. Yukimura explains that every candidate needs a peer recommendation, which she requests Kodaka fulfill, further surprising him. The recommending peer must give a speech before the candidate, as well as be someone who's looked up to by the rest of their peers. This makes Kodaka doubt himself as, even though his character has grown for some, there were still a great few who were afraid of him, or just didn't know him. Although still having doubts, Kodaka accepts due to Yukimura's obstinance. The voting period to become a candidate usually lasted a week, though, if no one applied, the period would receive an extension. During the previous year, having to fill what Hinata and Akane left behind caused no one to show up to vote, forcing the school to elect Aoi as president and Karin as vice president. This year was different, there were 25 candidates in total. This was likely due to the current council being more approachable than Hinata's. Out of the seven of those running for president, Akari Minakawa was the most dangerous. Akari was the current council's secretary. She was beautiful, proper and had the personality of a perfect Yozora with good communication skills. She was recognized as the central pillar of the council. Kodaka consults Yozora on Yukimura's chances against Akari, which she believes to be fairly low. The students want a reliable council, and Akari shows more of what Hinata and Aoi didn't. Yozora trusts Yukimura's abilities, though it's the opinion of the students as a whole that matters most, allowing doubts through as not many see Yukimura as a strong leader type. Yozora smiles at an obviously distressed Kodaka, saying that, as Yukimura's recommender, all he has to do is change the other's impressions of her. The day of final speeches and voting had arrived. Today's election would only be for the position of president, as there were too many candidates. Yukimura and Kodaka would be the second-to-last to give their speeches, and their turn had arrived. Heading toward the microphone, Yukimura wished Kodaka luck as he began. A stressed Kodaka peers into the crowd, causing him more stress and nervousness as he hears himself being judged. Yozora had made him rewrite his speech twelve times, eventually becoming a fictional tale about how Yukimura changed Kodaka from a delinquent into a functioning member of the school. Yozora hoped that this tale would overshadow the others. Yukimura had completely rejected Yozora's speech when he showed it to her previously, preferring a fair and truthful fight. Rejecting the speech again himself in current time, Kodaka begins to give his own, genuine speech. Kodaka nervously, but clearly, voices his speech, narrowing down Yukimura's merits. Yukimura begins her speech following Kodaka's. She details her experience with the council and her to-be goals as president. As she concluded, she also received the largest applaud from the crowd thus far. Now was the time for the students to ask the candidates questions. Rika was the very first to raise her hand for a question, shocking both Kodaka and Yukimura. She asks why she didn't choose Aoi to be her recommender over Kodaka. Irked by Rika's question, but still managing to maintain her composure, answers that it's because Kodaka is her boyfriend that she chose him. She goes on, in a provocative tone that Rika notices, that no one else knows her better than him. This makes Rika follow up by asking if they've ever slept together and how much. This causes the already frustrated Kodaka to become even more frustrated. Aoi attempts to keep Rika on track, but she says that the student council president represents the council, which in turn, makes their own standards and moral conduct reflect the school as a whole. Yukimura answers truthfully, saying they have not slept. Rika pushes forward, asking how far the two have gone exactly. She answers, and Kodaka notices the atmosphere in the room change, no longer feeling political. The students became enamored with their back-and-forth, and just as Rika concludes her questioning, Yukimura asks why she's doing this. Smiling, Rika replies that she's simply picking a fight, causing Yukimura to smile back, as a way of counteracting her smile. Rika takes her leave following their war of words. Yukimura was still smiling, but Kodaka could tell she was infuriated. Kodaka thinks about Rika and Yukimura's relationship, and how it differs from the others. There was always conflict between the Neighbor's Club members, though everyone still recognized each other as friends. The case was different with Yukimura and Rika; the two cannot stand one another, something Kodaka doesn't know the exact reason for. The following year, after they all graduated, Yukimura established a bushido club and Rika an inventor's club. Both of which were always in conflict. After graduating college, Yukimura founded a development company named "All Under Heaven Games Corporation," later renamed to the "All Under Heaven Entertainment Corporation." Rika followed by setting up the "Sigma Corporation," which led to a ten-plus-year-long childish war. Aoi managed to calm the crowd for the final candidate, Akari's, speech. Karin had been her recommender. Karin begins her speech. Following Karin's great speech, Akari begins her own. As Akari ends her speech, she receives greater applause than that of Yukimura. Kodaka assumes it's over for Yukimura, and Aoi starts the candidate questioning. A first-year girl takes the microphone and asks the very first question Rika asked, causing Kodaka to freeze in place. The question caught both Akari and Karin off guard. The girl reiterates her question, and a nervous Akari nods her head shocking Kodaka. He had been working alongside them but never noticed. As Akari begins to explain herself, the girl shouts at Karin, asking how she could do this when she already has her. Akari was in shock, and Karin began to look more and more stiffer. Soon, another female student stood from the crowd saying that Karin is her girlfriend. More and more girls began to stand claiming that Karin is dating all of them. Aoi tries to calm the students, and Akari asks Karin what's going on. Still stiff but managing a smile, Karin goes on that she loves them all and that they all saved her from the rejection of another woman, looking at a scared Yozora who wants nothing to do with her. The students begin questioning Karin who runs off. Akari and other girlfriends all give chase. Following the election, both Yukimura and Akari had lost, and a first-year boy was elected president. In addition, the school planned to properly punish Karin for her scandal, but her 28 lovers unanimously defended her, leading to no punishment. Kodaka couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong with St. Chronica's Academy.